ANSWER: Hepatitis C
Explanation:
- Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi (salt name sofosbuvir) is made by Gilead Science.
- As part of the Voluntary Licence (VL), the Indian companies pay a royalty to the innovator company (Gilead, in this case) and are allowed make copy-cat versions of blockbuster drug.
- Under the Voluntary Licence (VL) agreement on Sovaldi, Indian made generic versions of the drug could not be exported to 50 middle-income, high burden countries, or any high income nations including much of Western Europe, and the U.S. According to a technical analysis by MSF, over 49 million Hepatitis C patients live in middle income countries excluded under the VL’s anti-diversion programme.
- VL pacts are handy to avoid litigation and ensure fair competition between licensees. The government will be concerned if the VL arrangement hampers the growth of generics or prevents access to medicines or artificially jacks up the prices.
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